Surgeon General advises hospitals to cancel elective surgeries

[IronLionZion]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/14/surgeon-general-elective-surgeries-coronavirus-129405

The nation's top doctor on Saturday urged a widespread halt of hospital elective procedures amid mounting concern that the health system doesn't have enough beds to manage a potential surge of coronavirus cases.

"Hospital & healthcare systems, PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve!" U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted this morning.

He warned that every elective surgery could spread coronavirus within the facility, use up protective medical gear as public officials worry about shortages and burden a hospital workforce who "may be needed" to respond to COVID-19.

Adams was responding to new recommendations from the American College of Surgeons issued Friday. The group said hospitals, health systems and surgeons should "thoughtfully review" all their scheduled operations and consider canceling or postponing them "until we have passed the predicted inflection point" in the disease spread and "can be confident that our health care infrastructure can support a potentially rapid and overwhelming uptick in critical patient care needs."

Some hospitals like Massachusetts' Tufts Medical Center have already started rescheduling knee and hip replacements and other procedures.

Thank God the United States of America does not and never will ration health care. That would be socialism, with it's long lines, empty store shelves, canceled public events, panicking people who can't trust their own elected leaders.

This actually makes perfect sense. Save it for emergencies. I don't want to be taking up valuable hospital beds while simultaneously risking infection from the virus.

[spooky3]

1. Does this mean that Melania and her friends have to delay

Their nips and tucks?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Lots tRump's base needs elective surg for stomach reduce, hip replace, knee replace etc.

It will trickle down to the base that something real is happening.

Then a few around them will die. The base will shift uneasily at at that point and think a little bit about things.

[IronLionZion]

5. That's a bit of a leap

Trump's people without hips or knees may not be able to make that leap.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. You had me there! I thought "what?" and then I read the text :) . . . nt

[IronLionZion]

9. It works both ways

they'll still blame the libs somehow

[jls4561]

3. Sorry Melanoma, you should postpone your next "kidney" procedure

[Hoyt]

4. No brainer.

[spanone]

6. This current surgeon general gives the appearance he thinks he's on the apprentice.

Last edited Sun Mar 15, 2020, 07:36 PM - Edit history (1)

[bdamomma]

11. He's a trump loyalist

it seems.

[spanone]

13. Sad. So young.

I don't blame him as much as I do the 'president'

appointing unqualified people to all kinds of cabinet posts....jeeez

[crickets]

12. I notice it was the American College of Surgeons who had to tell him what to tell everyone else.

Sad. I am glad they spoke up and he listened, but geez.

[flyingfysh]

7. I wonder how that would apply to the hospital that did my surgery?

I had my knee replaced at New England Baptist Hospital. They do *only* orthopedic surgery (knees, hips, backs, shoulders, etc) and don't even have an emergency entrance. They don't deal with respiratory issues at all, but I did hear of one case where they transferred someone to another hospital for a heart bypass procedure. Making them postpone elective surgery would cause all of their people to be laid off, apparently? Or temporarily transferred to other hospitals? It's not clear.

[IronLionZion]

10. It doesn't hurt to ask them

Because during a crisis, such facilities can be commandeered for more critical purposes.